This invention relates in general to telephone systems and, more specifically, to screening of incoming phone calls.
Home phones typically connect directly to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) system. These home phones may display caller ID information or have voice prompt systems. Some of these voice prompt systems have individual mailboxes and other screening capabilities. Business systems have similar capabilities, which are typically hosted in a private branch exchange (PBX).
Many residences already have phone to interface with the PSTN system, but would like advanced calling features. In some cases, these advanced calling features are added to the central offices and other phone system locations. Remotely locating these features makes customization by the user difficult.
In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.